Memorial Our Lady of Loreto

Pope Francis added the memorial of Our Lady of Loreto to the liturgical calendar in 2019. Loreto is a place of pilgrimage where the faithful believe the house that the Blessed Mother grew up in, was visited by Gabriel, said yes to the Incarnation, and raised Jesus, which is now preserved inside a basilica. The story of how this simple stone building measuring only 31 x 13 feet traveled from Nazareth to Italy expresses the miraculous working of God’s presence in our lives.

For some, the story may give rise to skepticism. How can this be the same house all these centuries later? For others, it is another reminder of what we celebrate in Advent. Emmanuel, God is with us in ways far beyond our imagination and comprehension.

Here is your God! He comes with power, the Lord God. Loreto reminds us that God’s coming into power was not through the powerful, rich, or influential. He comes to us through Mary and chooses to enter this world in a small stone house and be born in a stable. Advent places these images before us so that we might know where to look for Christ’s coming today.

Emmanuel comes as a shepherd seeking the one that is lost. Perhaps it is among the lost that we begin to understand what God’s love is all about. Those in our family who seem lost through addiction or alienation. Those in our communities who are deemed lost because they do not live up to our expectations or agree with our ideas. Those in our world who wander seeking a home.

Jesus reminds us it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost. May the Eucharist empower us to search for and find the Lord in ourselves and others.

Let us pray:

Mary shows us how to find your Son in our daily lives—in our homes, workplaces, and travel. May your example lead us to become examples of faith and trust for others. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.